Despite the wishy-washy spring weather coming our way over here along Front Range Colorado, it's strawberry season somewhere. With Mother's Day around the corner, I wanted to find a recipe that is not too complicated but feels special in case any bakers out there need inspiration for a special treat for a mother in your life this Sunday. My daughter's school held a Teacher Appreciation meal this week, and I offered up this strawberry cookie tart as a small thank you to all the educators at her school who work so hard to make a difference in all their students' lives.
This is not a "so sweet my teeth hurt" tart, but it shines because of the inclusion of fresh strawberries. I used organic berries because they taste more like the local strawberries of my childhood. Fortunately, if you can only find the conventional variety, the sweetness from the preserves will take up the slack. As for the crust, it is more cookie crumb than flake, which helps hold the filling without the soggy undercooked texture that can happen with wet fillings. If you're not celebrating Mother's Day this year, go ahead and make one for yourself!
Strawberry Cookie Tart
Makes One 10" Tart
Ingredients
Dough
3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons aluminum-free baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/4 cup cold water
16 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into smaller cubes
2 large eggs, plus 1 egg yolk
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
2 sheets of parchment paper
Filling
2 cups fresh strawberries, stems removed and quartered
3/4 cup strawberry preserves
Finishing Touches for Dough
1 egg white
1 teaspoon water
1 1/2 tablespoons coarse raw sugar
Directions
Prepare the dough:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F, and make sure you have one rack in the center of the oven.
Using a stand mixer, stir flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in the bowl. Now, turn to low speed, and slowly add butter, and mix until incorporated. Add the eggs, additional egg yolk, water, and almond extract, and mix until the dough comes together. The dough may seem a little drier than pie dough. That's okay and where the "cookie" comes into the tart.
Next, take about half the dough and press into the nonstick tart pan and up all the sides of the pan. (If you're not using a nonstick pan, be sure to butter the pan well, including the sides for easier tart removal.) Bake for 14 minutes until the dough has just turned a light golden color at the edges.
Take the remaining dough and roll flat between two sheets of flour-dusted parchment paper on a cookie sheet. Then, place in the freezer while the tart crust parbakes, and work on the filling.
Prepare the filling and glaze for dough:
Place the fresh strawberries and strawberry preserves into a food processor and pulse until combined.
In a small bowl, stir egg white and a little water until combined.
After removing the crust from the oven, pour in the filling, ensuring it spreads over the entire crust.
Now, remove the dough from the freezer and loosen on the parchment. Here's where you can choose how to use the dough. I went with cookie cutter and free form shapes. If you use cookie cutters, lightly oil the cutters to prevent the dough from sticking. Arrange your shapes over the filling. Brush dough shapes with egg white glaze and sprinkle with raw sugar. (You will have extra dough. You can freeze leftovers or make more shapes and bake separately.)
Place tart in the oven and bake for 30 minutes, until the top is a deep golden brown. (The tart edges browned more quickly, so at the 20-minute mark, I placed aluminum foil around the edges of the tart pan to prevent the crust edges from getting too dark.)
Cool completely before serving to allow the filling to set.